The exponential growth of big data is forcing organisations of all sizes to rapidly improve their governance, risk and compliance efforts. Speedily detecting and addressing potential fraud is completely dependent on harnessing technology that can validate and provide a defensible audit trail. SAP Fraud Management Analytic Application is well positioned to address increasing business challenges of fraud in Africa.

This application, now available in Africa, helps organisations rapidly predict and address fraud-related business issues, promoting business transparency in alignment with global best practices in governance, risk and compliance. This was announced yesterday at an SAP financial services event, entitled "A Year in the Life of a CFO", held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Africa is increasingly being seen as an investment destination; however, the continent struggles with a negative image in terms of fraud and corruption. Reported cases of fraud on the continent decreased from 520 in the second half of 2011, to 503 cases in the first half of 2012. In the same period, the value of fraud decreased from $3.3 billion (R30 billion) to $ 2 billion (R20 billion). Gartner states that, by 2014, 50% of employees in a typical organisation will have access to some kind of analytic system. This rises to 75% by 2020. SAP’s best-in-class analytics solutions are now available in Africa to enable customers to deliver real-time knowledge of their businesses to the right people, at the right time, on any device.

Businesses in Africa are facing some of the biggest fraud challenges in the world. With SAP’s help, African organisations can now collaborate on this topic with their customers and partners, make fact-based, real-time decisions with confidence, balancing risk and opportunity, and securing competitive advantage.

Powered by SAP’s next-generation in-memory platform SAP HANA, SAP’s Fraud Management Analytic Application uses advanced rules and algorithms to identify and predict fraud behaviour, issue alerts and block fraudulent transactions in real time. It instantly analyses millions of business transactions and compares it against historic fraud activities to expose hidden fraud activities, trends and correlations. The power of the SAP HANA platform means the investigation process is simple and efficient as it collects all the data related to fraud activity, including geographical data and network connections, providing fraud investigators with an accurate and easy-to-understand overview. It also prioritises fraud alerts based on severity and fraud likelihood so that attention can be focused on the most critical cases, saving both time and money.

South Africa-based mining group Exxaro uses SAP governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solutions to support its integrated governance, risk and compliance strategy to drive business efficiency and sustainability. “Exxaro chose SAP GRC solutions to establish a proactive risk management culture within the organisation. We have managed to streamline processes, drive business efficiency, and improve integration and collaboration,” says Saret van Loggerenberg, Risk and Compliance Manager, GRC, Exxaro. “SAP is not only a technology partner, but also a business partner, as their analytics tools have enabled us to achieve our business and GRC objectives.”

“More businesses in Africa are taking corporate governance, risk and compliance matters seriously, especially as transparency and fraud management become top of mind for all business leaders. In addition, the globalisation of business introduces new security risks as well as new regulations, making compliance in Africa a complex landscape,” said Pfungwa Serima, CEO, SAP Africa. “SAP is now well positioned to help African organisations combat the risk of fraud with advanced analytic capabilities and greater visibility into their critical business data while ensuring they remain compliant.”

As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device, SAP empowers people and organisations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 248 500 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

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